Tower repair work to reduce water pressure to homes in Keetonville Hill

3:52 PM, Nov 12, 2012

3:54 PM, Nov 12, 2012

Officials plan to repair a leak on this 120-foot-tall water tower belonging to Rural Water District 3 outside Claremore.

Thomas Berger/ KJRH

Copyright 2012 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

CLAREMORE, Okla. - Around 400 to 500 homes in the Keetonville Hill near Claremore may experience low water pressure in the coming days as crews repair a leaky water tower, officials are warning residents.

The 120-foot-tall, approximately 180,000-gallon tower has a hose-sized hole in an underground 8-inch water main in the concrete of its base, Rural Water District 3 Manager Rick Stull told 2NEWS.

In order to fix that hole, the tower is now being drained as customers use the water. Once the tower is empty, water officials will reset the valves and allow the pumps to supply water pressure so crews can begin the repair work on Tuesday.

"It will reduce pressure to Keetonville," said Stull, saying though the 30 to 40-pound-per-square-inch pressure fall-off should only last for two days as the repairs are made. The pumps, he said, should supply adequate pressure in the meantime.

"Those are really powerful pumps."

The half-inch diameter leak discovered nearly two weeks ago costs the district nearly $50 a month – something quite minimal, said Stull, saying though the leak must be repaired or else the district will lose water continually.

"We think we have it figured out and we are ready to tackle it."

Copyright 2012 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.